“This is the first year that wolves were hunted on every side of the park. They’ve learned to tolerate people in the park, but that gets them in trouble if they leave. Some wandered outside the park, and within six hours, they were dead…The park has an international constituency and our mission is preservation. The kills are a big hit on our research, but another big concern for us is that too many kills affect visitor enjoyment,” said YNP wolf biologist Doug Smith.

Yellowstone National Park is posting record attendance numbers – a 2% increase to 3.4 million visitors in 2012. With a projected 65 million international visitors to the USA in 2012 and more in 2013, Yellowstone National Park is the largest international draw in the Northern Rockies region. With three of the five gateways accessed through Montana, the state serves to benefit from this increased traffic.

We conclude that potential tourists are turned off when they learn about more aggressive hunting and trapping practices in the state. So, is Montana killing the largest growing industry in the region – eco/wildlife tourism along with this apex predator? We think so!

It’s time for us to remind Governor Bullock that our tourism dollars affect the economic future of his state and our voice counts! We ask that you call the following officials to tell them you oppose the bill because it is anti-science, anti-eco-tourism, and anti-jobs!

Reduces the price of nonresident licenses REDUCING THE PRICE OF A NONRESIDENT LICENSE;

Allows use of recorded or electronically amplified calls in wolf hunting; ALLOWING USE OF RECORDED OR ELECTRONICALLY AMPLIFIED CALLS;

Exempts hunters from wearing orange outside the general deer and elk hunting season

Prevents the creation of wolf harvest buffer zones and wolf harvest closures around national parks; In an area immediately adjacent to a national park, the commission may not: prohibit the hunting or trapping of wolves; or close the area to wolf hunting or trapping unless a wolf harvest quota established by the commission for that area has been met.”

So sick of wolf killing states, and Montana…part of the re-introduction and home of Salazar. Worst betrayal of the wolves. I can not fathom how to ever overcome the immense curse we have put upon ourselves because of this. Being from Wisconsin and having to deal with Gov. Walker and also being an Ojibwa myself, beyond words..have lived a nightmare.

Why don’t the gov bring in deer buffalo elk ect in from Like Alaska ect and bring them in to the wolf states for them to have something to eat. That way the wolves will leave the livestock alone, And then the wolf hunters will leave the wolves alone?

Gov Bullock, Jon Tester stomped on our rights when he slipped thru the rider which began the slaughter of the wolves. He and all else were told “no riders”, yet he added this and nothing was ever said again. It was not fair, yet the slaughter continues to get worse and worse. Our rights, the rights of our children and grandchildren, not to mention the rights of the wildlife to simply live, the rights are hijacked and he is to blame for this horrible bloody scene. You have the ability to do something about this. Please do not allow the hunters, trappers, and haters to continue to destroy something that is on this earth for us all to admire. Are you getting kickbacks from the stockmen, etc. to let this brutality continue? Please stop this now, do not let the few make fatal decisions for us all.

The bill allows hunters to purchase more than wolf permit, use electronic calls while hunting wolves and reduces the price of a non resident wolf license from $350 to $50.

“As we implement this and go forward, I have asked the director to make sure that we are educating hunters about collared wolves around the parks and also to reengage the wolf management council that used to be part of our state in the past,” Bullock said in an interview.

Bullock’s comments about collared wolves refer to a portion of the bill which prohibits the Fish Wildlife and Parks Commission from closing wolf hunting areas outside Yellowstone Park.

It responds to concerns after several hunters shot wolves with collars that were part of a federal study program. Shortly after the FWP Commission closed the hunting districts outside the Park prior to the hunting quotas being filled.

“It ought to be biologists managing wolves, not politicians,” Bullock said. “This bill allows us to use science based management.”

HB 73 received overwhelming support in both the House and Senate, with only four senators and three representatives voting against the bill

Is it really this easy to kill your beautiful wolves rather than save them for future generations as well as us tourists who pay to see them in their natural habitat alive I may add .It seems its true money talks especially blood money